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Star India-run video over-the-top (OTT) service Hotstar grew its market share in the 10 months to June at 73.19 percent as rival Amazon Prime Video grabbed a share of just 9.66 percent, data from a research by KalaGato Pte show. The shares are based on app downloads in 60 cities, including the top 10 metros besides Tier 1 and 2 cities. Other video OTT platforms including Sony Liv bagged 6.96 percent share of the market, followed by Airtel-run Wynk Movies at 6.36 percent and US-based Netflix at just 1.26 percent. According to Star India, Hotstar which steams close to 100,000 hours of drama and movies in 8 languages, besides live sports has been downloaded by more than 250 million users. As per a study released by BofA Merrill Lynch in February this year, Hotstar has been gaining popularity going by the downloads of its app.

However, the success has come at a price—Novi Digital Entertainment, which runs the platform, reported a net loss of Rs 409 crore in the first full year of operations, according to a filing with the RoC. Revenues from the business were Rs 186 crore of which Rs 24.1 crore came from subscriptions and Rs 138.5 crore from advertising. YouTube India’s revenues are estimated at Rs 700 crore. While Hotstar’s content comprises programming across television, films and live sports updates, it has an edge over rivals thanks to its access to Star TV’s content ahead of the broadcast. The exclusive partnerships with Star, IPL and HBO Originals also seem to be paying off. The OTT market in India is estimated to grow to USD 272 million in 2017 from USD 202 million in 2016 with a better telecom infrastructure and rise in data consumption, the report stated.-Financial Express